The Mage of Primordial Chaos

Chapter 239 - Paintball (6)

(Qing Yue's Perspective)

I made the first shot - Lan Xiao Su's silenced pistol has a higher fire rate but a lower magazine size, so I needed to take advantage of that and make the first shot. I had ten bullets, she had nine. This way, not only would I get first shot advantage, but she would still have to reload before me, giving me a window to hit her.

...That was my plan, anyway.

Unfortunately, she saw straight through it, and instead of shooting back at me, she spun around, ducked to avoid my bullet, and dashed away from me, before rounding a corner and disappearing from my sight.

"Hey! Get back here...gr..." I growled angrily, starting to chase.

I hated fighting in these slums, since my physical abilities weren't that good. Any of the other girls could outrun me, not to mention Big Brother Xuan Kai and his insane physical capabilities. This 'map', as I like to call it in video game terms, was disadvantageous for me.

That being said, I did have an ultimate ace up my sleeve - the Golden Fortress. Principal Song had given me this as a reward for finishing first in the Advancement Exams along with Feng Mian, Yu An Yan, Yu An Xue, and of course, Big Brother Xuan Kai. This artifact was extremely useful in this fight, since not only could it block all incoming bullets, it followed me around as long as I had it active. Meaning, I could technically just keep it on all the time, and no one would be able to eliminate me.

But...even if I win like that, I'd feel pretty guilty. And more importantly, Big Brother Xuan Kai probably wouldn't be very proud. That's what scares me most. I want to win this fair and squarely, so I can earn the acknowledgement of Big Brother Xuan Kai! That's why, if possible, I wanted to beat Lan Xiao Su without using the Golden Fortress, or at least only minimal use of it.

With this in mind, I began following the sound of her footsteps, stopping every once in a while to use Detect Presence to make sure I was still on the right track.

Soon enough, we arrived at a large, open space. Most of the slums were narrow corridors, so places like this were uncommon. It was then that I saw the building with the familiar mark of the Bloodthirsters nearby - this was close to the area we had once engaged in combat with that gang. They were wiped out now though - with the exception of their leader, whose current location is still unknown - so we were safe to train and host this mock battle here.

I sniffed my nose, and noticed the smell of gunpowder. A battle had happened at this same spot not long ago. 

"Hm...did you eliminate someone else here earlier?" I asked, pretending to look around but really keeping a close eye on Lan Xiao Su and when she's going to shoot. She had erected a barrier before her, so I didn't waste any bullets trying to shoot at her. As I was chasing her all the way here, I reloaded my chamber, so I was back to ten bullets.

Lan Xiao Su giggled. "You noticed?"

"Yeah...the smell of gunpowder is in the air," I replied with a wink. "So? Who was your unfortunate victim?"

"Xuan Kai," she replied innocently.

...?! Big Brother Xuan Kai? He was eliminated?!

This came to me as a shock - so much so, in fact, that Lan Xiao Su noticed I wasn't paying attention and quickly took advantage of that. She shot out a bullet, which passed  through  her barrier somehow, and flew directly towards me.

I snapped out of my daze, but it was too late...or was it? Somehow, quite luckily, my finger was already on the trigger of my hand cannon, Queen, so I just fired it in a panic out of instinct, and by some insane stroke of luck, my projectile directly hit hers, and the two bullets bounced away in opposite directions.

"Sneaky..." I muttered in disdain.

Lan Xiao Su smiled. "Sorry, Qing Yue, but Xuan Kai, although inadvertently, taught me a lot of things, one of which is to always look for openings in your opponents. And the moment one appears, take advantage of it!"

"Heh...the teachings of Big Brother Xuan Kai, is it?" I chuckled. "Too bad...I've known him for way longer than you!"

Saying this, I unleashed a bullet of my own towards her, but that was just a decoy. In reality, I knew the bullet would be harmless against her barrier - I was just buying some time for myself.

"Level One Light Magic - Illumination!"

I generated an orb of bright white light above me, and controlled its movements with my mind so that it followed right behind my bullet. The orb of light trailed right behind my shot, blinding Lan Xiao Su. The bullet hit her barrier and did no damage, but that was fine. I had already achieved my goal. While my orb of light blinded her momentarily, in that single instant, I used all my energy to dash to her right, and unleashed another three bullets towards her. On this side, she didn't have a barrier to protect her. But to my surprise, she had  predicted  I would do this, and was prepared. She leaned back elegantly, letting the three bullets fly by above her.

"Wha..." I gasped in surprise, and she raised her gun, pointing it at me. I realized she was about to shoot, so I skidded to the side, running back to my original position while doing rolls and various movements to confuse her aim. Once I was back in my original spot directly in front of her, I noticed she aimed slightly to my left, attempting to predict my movements. This, was her eighth bullet. I was counting. Just one more shot until she had to reload, and it was my turn to attack.

Since she tried to lead her shot, I remained in place to juke her out, and ducked downwards. Unfortunately, my momentum still carried me forward a bit, and the bullet just barely missed my head. I stood back up in triumph, but then, I felt a bullet graze past my cheek, close enough that I could hear it whizz by. I froze in fright, and felt cold sweat trickle down my back.

Lan Xiao Su frowned. "Hm...I miscalculated it. I purposely aimed a little below the spot I used to ricochet the shot I used to eliminate Xuan Kai, but...I guess I wasn't precise enough. Ah...unlucky."

What...? Ricochet...? Oh, so that's what it is...wait...I have an idea.

"Heh...that was close," I muttered. "But that was your final bullet. You have no more in the chamber now, do you? It's my turn."

Of course, this was a lie. That shot just now was her eighth, meaning she still had one more left. But I purposely made her  think  I counted wrong, so that she  thought she could catch me off guard with her last bullet. But no - in reality, I had already made preparations. As I was getting up from the ducking position I was in just now, I discretely took off my amber necklace and was now holding it in my left hand, behind my back, where Lan Xiao Su couldn't see.

Hearing my words, Lan Xiao Su smiled innocently, and I knew. I knew she had fallen for my trap. I raised my other hand, where I held Queen, and prepared to shoot a bullet, but before I could, Lan Xiao Su acted first, and unleashed her final shot, aimed directly for my forehead.

However...like I said: I was prepared for this.

I tightened my grip around the amber necklace in my other hand, and my Golden Fortress appeared around me instantly,  deflecting  her bullet straight back towards her. Her eyes widened, not expecting this, but she quickly relaxed again as she realized she still had a barrier in front of her.

But I wasn't done. I shot Queen, but not towards her - I shot my bullet at the wall to my right, where it ricocheted off and hit my  deflected  bullet mid-air, causing the  deflected  bullet to change trajectory and hit the  left  wall, where it then ricocheted again at a 45 degree angle to head for Lan Xiao Su once again, this time without the protection of her barrier, which only covered directly in front of her. With the use of my precise calculations, I was able to make the bullet she originally shot, which I deflected, go  around  her barrier to strike her clean in the chest.

"Ngh-!" she groaned from the impact. It wouldn't do any lasting harm, but it still hurt about as much as a punch would. Not long after, a white smoke began emitting from the place where I hit her, and just like that, Lan Xiao Su was - eliminated.